Viewer's Guide: The Glen

Because last Sunday's Allstate 400 at Indianapolis ran a little bit long, fans watching at home didn't get to see much of Tony Stewart's emotional celebration after he got through talking with Allen Bestwick.

	Inside the Numbers Tony Stewart at Watkins Glen Year Start Finish 1999 4 6 2000 6 6 2001 11 26 2002 3 1 2003 4 11 2004 4 1 Avg. 5.3 8.5

That will change Sunday, as the network will show the remainder of Stewart's Brickyard victory party during the pre-race show from Watkins Glen.

Incidentally, Stewart is the defending winner at The Glen. Who can forget his win there last year, when Stewart overcame a stomach illness to get to Victory Lane -- after stops to his hauler and to his motorcoach.

This year, Stewart has a busy weekend planned. He will compete in the Rolex Sports Car Series race on Friday, the Busch Series race on Saturday and, of course, the Nextel Cup race on Sunday.

Those three days of racing will culminate a fuel-filled week for Stewart, who spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the vaunted Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway watching his World of Outlaws team with driver Danny Lasoski attempt to defend their Knoxville Nationals championship.

Stewart already has four road-course wins under his belt in the Nextel Cup circuit, including two at The Glen. Still, he's careful not to be overconfident about Sunday.

"It's just like anyplace else," Stewart said of The Glen. "If you get the combination right you can go out and win. If you miss something and you're a little bit off, you're not going to win.

"The two races we won there we had a very, very good race car that drove well all day. In between those races there was a year where our car didn't drive real well and we didn't win. It's just a matter of doing the same things you do at any other racetrack."

"If you get the package right and your driver is good at road courses, then you've got a shot at winning a road-course race."

Also in Sunday's pre-race show, Wally Dallenbach will welcome Olympic bobsledding gold medallist Todd Hays to "Wally's World."

Jeff Gordon and J.J. Yeley are among the guests slated for a live edition of Trackside this week from The Glen (7 p.m. ET Friday, SPEED).

If you're heading there this weekend, the SPEED Channel Stage Truck will be located inside the racetrack, between Turns 9 and 10.

The ratings news continues to be strong for NBC. The network's coverage of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard earned a 6.2 rating and 15 share on Sunday, matching the second highest rating in the history of the event, with more than 19 million people tuning in to all or part of the broadcast.

The 6.2/15 is a two percent increase over the rating for last year's race (6.1/15) and a three percent increase over 2003 (6.0/15). NBC's coverage of the race in 2002 set the record high for the event (6.3/16); NBC's 2001 broadcast also earned a 6.2.

In the five years that NBC has broadcast the Brickyard, the rating has grown 68 percent (6.2/15 vs. 3.7/12 on ABC in 2000). The NBC/TNT four-race, season-to-date average national rating, excluding the Pepsi 400, which alternates yearly between NBC and FOX, stands at a 5.3, up 56 percent over 2000 (3.4), the last year before NBC/TNT began exclusively broadcasting the second half of the NASCAR Nextel Cup season.

The 5.3 season-to-date average is up 8 percent over last year's 4.9 for the same four races,

"Ask the Producer" takes a one-week hiatus. Please continue to use the e-mail link to the right to give us your questions.

In this week's version of "The Rant," Jim Guffey of Parts Unknown wants the tire issue addressed.

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"If NASCAR or Goodyear where putting these tires on cars for the public they would have massive lawsuits. They have blamed the crews for their setups. This is a racing series, correct?

"I am sure all the fans would appreciate it if NASCAR and Goodyear could fix this before some is seriously injured. The races would be a lot more interesting if there were less yellow flags from blown tires and we see a better races if the tires would hold up.

"It is time to fix it and stop giving excuses. These drivers put there lives on the line to give the fans a great show what is going to be the excuse when something unfortunate happens to them. The way it is going they will blame it on the crew not the tires."

Now to this weekend's schedule:

Nextel Cup Series: Sirius Satellite Radio at The Glen

Track: Watkins Glen International

2.45-mile road course

Race length: 90 laps/220.5 miles

TV schedule (All times ET)

• NASCAR Live: 5 p.m. Fri., SPEED
• Trackside: 7 p.m. Fri., SPEED
• Final Practice: 8 p.m. Fri., SPEED (tape-delayed)
• Bud Pole Qualifying: 11 a.m. Sat., SPEED
• NASCAR Live: 1 p.m. Fri, SPEED
• NASCAR Performance: 8 p.m. Sat., SPEED
• NASCAR This Morning: 11 a.m. Sun., SPEED
• Pre-race: 1 p.m. Sun., NBC.
• Race: 1:35 p.m. Sun., NBC.

One year ago, Stewart knew he was in trouble shortly after the start of the race, but overcame an upset stomach to win Sunday at Watkins Glen International.

Under the weatherTony Stewart says stomach cramps made for a rough day Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

"It started about the 15th or 17th lap," he said. "It got better toward the end but I still don't feel well."

Stewart went back to his hauler as soon as he exited the car after winning the Sirius at the Glen. He was driven back to his motor coach in a golf cart to change his uniform and attempt to recover.

That delayed his celebration in Victory Lane, marking the third straight week that has happened in NASCAR

The most recent checkered flag went to Stewart, who got an emotional victory Sunday at the track where he'd always wanted a win -- Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Keep an eye on Rusty Wallace, who'll make his final road-course start on Sunday. Wallace has six road-course wins in his Cup career, second only to Jeff Gordon

Busch Series: Zippo 200

Track: Watkins Glen International
2.45-mile road course

Race length: 82 laps/200.9 miles

TV schedule (All times ET)
• Busch Pole Qualifying: 9 a.m. Sat., SPEED
• Race: 2 p.m. Sat., NBC

One year ago, this race wasn't on the Busch Series schedule.

The most recent checkered flag went to Martin Truex Jr., who padded his series point lead after a rain-delayed victory Saturday night at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Keep an eye on Ron Fellows. Fellows won the most recent Busch Series race at Watkins Glen -- four years ago. He'll be driving the No. 43 Chevrolet.

Fellows has three NASCAR Busch Series wins at The Glen, second only to Terry Labonte's four. Fellows also has captured two Busch Poles at the venue, and won the 2000 race from that position.

Craftsman Truck Series: Toyota Tundra 200

Track: Nashville Superspeedway

• 1.333-mile concrete oval
• 14-degree banking in turns
• 9-degree banking on frontstretch
• 6-degree banking on backstretch
• Length of frontstretch: 2,494 feet
• Length of backstretch: 2,203 feet

Race distance: 150 laps/200 miles

TV schedule (All times ET)

• Race: 5 p.m. Sat., SPEED

Rock starHamilton grooves to the win last season at Nashville Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

One year ago, Bobby Hamilton executed a dramatic, high-groove pass on leader David Starr with eight laps remaining to win.

The most recent checkered flag went to Dennis Setzer, who got his fourth NCTS win in his past six starts Friday at IRP.

Keep an eye on Victory Lane. Two of the past three Nashville winners have gone on to win the series championship.

Mark Spoor is a senior producer for NASCAR.COM. The Domino's Viewer's Guide runs each Thursday during race weeks.